Dumping-car.



No. 695,803. l. PatentedM'ar. IB, |902'.

F. C. DUNHAM.

DUMPING CAR.

Application 'mud om 12, 1901.)

(No Model.)

me Nonms mns co., PnomLiYHo.. wAsMmnTou. o. c.

attached to the sills b, one on each side of car,

FREDERICK C. DUNIIAM, OF

i a'rnr Peron..

FLEMINGTON, NEV JERSEY.

DUfWPlNG-C/R.

SIEEQI'EGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 695,803, dated March18, 1 902.

Application filed October 12,1901. Serial No. 78,444. (No model.)

To (all whom it may concern.-

Be tknown that I, FREDERICK O. DUNHAM, residing at Flemington, in thecounty of Hu nA terdon and State of New Jersey, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Dumping-Cars, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates particularly to the method of opening and closingthe doors on dumping-cars, and more especially on railroad coal, ore, orother cars that are equipped with folding or swinging doors applied to ahopper.

When cars are loaded and the doors of hopper are sustaining the weightof material on them, the doors open very suddenly when the fasteningsare released, as the load is usually from two to four tons. If a wrenchis used on the winding-shaft for the purpose of opening the doors, theoperator is liable to injury from the rapid movement of the wrench.

The main object of my invention is to avoid this liability of accident.For this purpose I have invented a ratchet-wheel which is to besubstituted for the ordinary ratchet-wheel, and which can be operated bya round bar of iron instead of a special wrench, and is described in thedrawings annexed hereto, they being a part of this specification.

Figure lis a side elevation of a coal-car with the device attached inits position; Fig. 2, a detached elevation of a dumping device with thedoors closed; Fig. 3, same as Fig. 2 with the doors open. Fig. 4 is anenlarged front view of ratchet-wheel. Fig. 5 is a side view of theratchet-wheel.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the several views.

In gondolas or open cars with a drop bottom the power is usually appliedto a winding-shaft for operating the mechanism which Opens and closesthe doors. The end of this shaft is shown at A in Fig. 1, and the bodyof the car is designated by letter B, under which is the hopper C. Thewinding-shaft A is mounted in bearings, which are usually and thewinding-shaft running transversely across and extending through thesides of car and having a crank-arm D secured to shaft near thebearings. The outer end of crank D is connected to a set of levers orlinks E and E by a pitman or hinged joint, and thc opposite end oflevers E and E are connected to the doors F and F at m by a hinged jointalso. Vhen the winding-shaft A is revolved, the `opening made by thedoors F and F. is governed by the length of crank D. The winding-shaft Ais generally provided with a square shank on one of its outer ends, uponwhich is fixed a ratchet-wheel which turns with the shaft. Outside theratchet-wheel the square shank is extended sufficiently for a wrench tobe applied.

To secure the doors F and F' from opening while the car is in transit, apawl G is hinged to the side of car-body B in a position that will allowits outer end to engage the notches or teeth in ratchet-wheel. Thus theturning of winding-shaft A cannot occur until the pawl G is thrown outof engagement with ratchet-wheel.

All of the above is in general use, and no claim is madefor any part ofsame being new.

In place of the ratchet-wheel (which is generally furnished with aseries of notches all around its outer periphery) l have applied thewheel XV, which is shown detached in Figs. 4t and 5. This wheel is shownwith two notches in its periphery at c and c', theiformer being inposition to secure the shaft A from turning and the doors F and F closedwhen the pawl G is engaged with it. When the pawl is engaged with thenotch c', the doors are then partly open. When the pawl G-is thrownback, the shaft A will turn until the cranks D hang perpendicularly, andthe doors F and F will open or drop downward as the shaft revolves. Uponthe face of the wheel W and projecting outward from same is a round pinor fulcrum, as shown at d, Figs. 4 and 5. This pin is strengthened partof its length by an inclined web f, the Web projecting about one-half ofthe length of the pin. On the same face of wheel W is anothemectangularprotuberance g, about onehalf the length of the pin cl, with webs 7c and7s on each side of same and extending part of the way around the wheelW. Instead of having the square shank on the shaft A eX- tend outwardbeyond the wheel W a thin collar or head is forged on shaft to securethe wheel W from coming olf the shaft, so that there is nothing toprevent alever e from ben IOO ing applied, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3,and the pin d used as a fulcrum for same, the projection g acting as theWeight to be lifted. When the doors are opened, by turning the shaft A,as in Fig. 2, the lever cannot be applied to secure a purchase in anyother Way than as shown, as the webs or ribs 7c and 7c' prevent theprojection g from use as a fulcrum. The pin d being longer than theprojection g and the Web fextending half the length of the pinnecessitates the lever being applied in an oblique manner and notparallel with the body of the car. When the doors F and F are startedand the Weight of the load revolves the shaft rapidly, the lever isretained in the hands of the operator and is entirely loose from theshaft A or Wheel W. Should it be held in close proximity to the wheel Was it revolves, the web h would strike the lever and crowd it awayfromthe wheel W. To close the doors F and F, the lever is applied asshown in Fig. 3, again using the pin g as a fulcrum, and by a downwardpull the motion is reversed, turning shaft A and closing the doors. Itthe distance traveled by the outer end of lever be greater than theoperator can conveniently pull, the pawl G can be dropped and engaged inthe notch C', leaving the door partly open.

- Any piece of iron of reasonable length can be used to open or closethe doors instead of a special wrench being provided, which is a matterof economy, and the question of safety to the operator is eliminated, asthe danger is done away with.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

l. A dumping-car With a Winding-shaft in combination with aratchet-Wheel, a fulcrum and Web formed with the Wheel and a projectiong, on the face of said Wheel.

2. A dumping-car With Winding-shaft A in combination with aratchet-Wheel W having on its surface a fulcrum d, strengthened by Webfand a projection g with Webs k and 7.9 substantially as described andfor purposes set forth.

3. A ratchet-wheel XV for dumping-cars having on its outer surface aprojecting pin d With Webfinclining from the face of Wheel to one-halfthe length of pin, in combination with the projection g and the webs 7.,and k inclining from face of wheel to the same length as projection g,as and for the purposes specified.

4. A ratchet-Wheel W with two notches cv and c in its outer periphery incombination with the fulcrum d and its inclined Web fand the projectiong with the inclined webs 7c and 7c on each side 0f same, substantiallyas described. l

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specilication in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

FREDERICK C. DUNIIAM.

Witnesses:

GEO. K. LARGE, NEDWILL SUTPHIN.

